Pagina's

Via His Grace (and do read the comments), we get a independent trader telling the BBC an unexpectedly frank bit of unvarnished truth. The reaction of the BBC staff at the end of that item is worth the price of admission alone.

The sentiment underlying this guy's fatalism is expressed admirably by Golem XIV:

Does anyone anywhere believe anything they are told, on any subject, by any government official, financial expert or banker? Beneath all the outright lies, hopeless spin and half truths there is a more fundamental and corrosive problem. WE DON’T BELIEVE YOU!

I think it's not far off the mark when I say that very few ordinary citizens have any faith in their leaders any more. Government, MPs, bankers, union leaders, the MSM. All of them have squandered their credibility. The common folk watch their evening news, watch these people make their statements, predictions and pronouncements and think 'Yeah, right'. That is how it's for me and mine, anyway. We draw our own conclusions. And those are miles, nay, galaxies apart from what we're told.

As Golem XIV writes, what none of the liars remembered is that lies can only be redeemed if there is an equally endless supply of credulity. And although we frequently lament the stupidity, cupidity and cowardice of ‘people’ even they have a finite supply of credulity. And it has been exhausted.

When the history of the first few decades of this, the 21st century ever gets written, that will be its main theme: They stopped believing, they lost faith.

6
reacties:

DP111
zei

I know that some people will make lots of money out of a crash. But do they really make lots real money? If say farmers refuse to sell their produce because paper money is worthless, what use is lots of money?

Lets put it this way. The rich are only "rich" because the vast majority, and mainly the middle class that provides the skills and knowhow to run a society, still have a stake in it. If the savings of the middle class are destroyed, what stake do they have in society?

KV wrote: They lost faith.

Yes, once the middle class loses its faith in society, its all over. The rich will just have to burn their money to keep warm - if that is they have the foresight to withdraw their money in paper, to stoke the furnace.

As for the trader in the above, he really does appear to be a parasite of the worst sort. Not for one moment did he give any indication that he was concerned about society and his fellow man. He was praying for a market crash, and gloating over his future riches.

What I am most afraid of, is that this crisis will lead to a total break-up of trust between people and groups of people. Society cannot function, if there is no trust. Where there is no trust, the law of the jungle re-asserts its primacy.

That is the tragedy of our times: Where there is no integrity, trust is lost. Where there is no trust, co-operations seizes. Where co-operation is lost, we are entering a new dark age. We are living is dangerous times, I think.

Loss of faith is not just because serial financial incompetence of our politicians. Loss of faith, is when we do not have trust in them on even more serious matters - such as life and death of our culture.

There was a scientist, who after years of research, came to the conclusion that smoking gave rise to cancer of the lungs. He tried to publish his findings in scientific journals but was blocked because of financialinterests. So he set up a blog which warned of an epidemic of cancer unless smoking was curtailed.

Years later, there were thousands of deaths due to smoking related cancers.

Now, the question is - Is the scientist responsible for the resulting deaths or are those who smoked, and those who profited most from the sale of cigarettes?

In order

1. The individuals

2. The companies who made the cigarettes

3. The government which made the greatest profit from the sale of cigarettes

Oh, by the way, the scientist was so harried by those who opposed his work, that he took on the pseudonym of Fjordland.